Texas Tech's Seth Doege tries to escape Oklahoma's Chuka Ndulue during their game on Saturday in Lubbock. Doege completed 22 of 36 passes for 203 yards with three interceptions and no touchdowns in Tech's 41-20 loss to OU.

AVALANCHE-JOURNAL

Like plenty of his college peers, Texas Tech quarterback Seth Doege spent part of his Sunday evening taking in a movie at a local theater, a brief reprieve from the pressure that surrounds his position as a major conference quarterback.

But Doege was probably more eager than most classmates to end the weekend and begin this week’s work. After all, he said, the quickest way to put a forgettable performance behind him is to start working on the next one.

“It motivates me,” Doege said of an outing against Oklahoma in which he completed 22 of 36 passes for 203 yards with three interceptions and no touchdowns. “I don’t really care what people say or their opinions about me. My teammates trust me, and I trust in myself.

“So I’m just motivated to get back out there. I’m motivated for the next practice to come so I can make that throw that I missed, or I can see that read that I missed or whatever it may be, something where I can just go out there and execute what I didn’t do on Saturday and understand that I can do it.”

Doege isn’t hiding from the fact that he hasn’t been at his best through two weeks of Big 12 play. He’s already thrown five interceptions (half of his entire 2011 total), two of which have been returned for touchdowns. When asked to evaluate his play, Doege said he’s played only one good half in each of the last two games.

But the second-year starter said he isn’t suffering from a lack of confidence, and teammates have left little doubt they have plenty of it in their signal-caller. Running back SaDale Foster voiced his support following the Oklahoma game, and senior center Deveric Gallington did the same on Twitter.

“I have all the faith in the world in MY quarterback (Seth Doege),” Gallington tweeted. “Hell of a player and a great leader for us!”

Texas Tech coach Tommy Tuberville said he, too, has seen strong leadership out of Doege in the days following the loss, adding the quarterback owned up to his mistakes during a senior meeting Sunday.

“Quarterbacks get a lot of praise and a lot of criticism,” Tuberville said. “He works awfully hard at it. It’s not one of those deals where he went out and wasn’t prepared to play or ready to go. He understands what he has to work on. He’s the first guy that will go out early and work on the things he did wrong the week before.”

Another person who doesn’t question Doege’s resolve is West Virginia coach Dana Holgorsen, the former Tech assistant/offensive coordinator, who will bring his No. 5 Mountaineers to Lubbock for a 2:30 p.m. kickoff Saturday.

Holgorsen, who coached with the Red Raiders under Mike Leach from 2000 to 2007, left the school for a job at Houston before Doege arrived, but the two built a relationship while Doege was in high school.

Holgorsen was impressed with the way Doege stuck with football despite suffering two major knee injuries that cost him two seasons at Frenship.

“You talk about a determined kid that never gave up,” Holgorsen said. “That’s how he plays the game, too. He just never gives up. Obviously, he hung on there and stayed the course at Texas Tech, did a good job and got the opportunity to play. He’s made the most of it. I’m proud to see him doing that.”

Doege certainly wasn’t the sole reason for Tech’s offensive struggles on Saturday. Whether it was blocks being missed, routes being run the wrong way or balls being thrown off target, the Red Raiders didn’t make enough plays when they needed them, particularly in Oklahoma territory.

Still, Doege knows the rest of the team takes its cues from him.

“I think it’s my job,” he said. “My play wasn’t great in the second half, and they deserve better from their quarterback. It wasn’t the fact that mentally I was out of the game or anything. I just didn’t perform, and I think if I perform those guys will catch on and understand our mindset is to score.”

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I do not think that it is merely confidence that is lacking in this sputtering and retooled offense. Obviously, throwing THREE interceptions and no touch downs was fatal to TT efforts to beat the Sooners. What is mystifying to me is that Doege, such a highly touted quarterback, who spent all of those years watching and practicing, could be so lackluster this year. Let's not count the cupcake teams in pre-conference play. He struggled against ISU and was absolutely unable to muster enough offensive to throw touchdowns. He had better find his big boy pants and start playing like the quarterback that comes behind the likes of Kingsbury, B.J. Symons, Harrell, etc. Those guys had moxie and leadership. I hope that Doege finds whatever it is he needs to lead the offensive to more impressive showings in the next few games.

We can play better. Neal brown just has to make adjustments. If they are not giving us the bubble screen DONT RUN IT. I just watched the game over again & the screen wasnt there. Oklahoma DL was waiting on it because they wasnt rushing Doege when they saw the screen developing. They couldnt cover us deep or on out routes. Our offensive line is suspect but it could have been a non factor with quick passes & the running game. Cant blame it all on the play calling. Please recognize what are giving us & take it. He should have went after Oklahoma DB Colvin but its too late to cry over spilled milk. Cant blame the defense. Come on Neal lets utilize our WRs height & speed all over the field. We got a weak defensive team coming in so lets try to get that defensive coordinator on the hot seat.

The play calling is suspect and I agree with Runninsked, if they aren't giving us one type of play we've got to adjust and run something else. Doege is struggling, when he gets pressured and he's not seeing that the certain plays aren't there. I would rather he throw it away/ in the ground then to try and make a play and turn it over. Pick six plays are killers. Some of them weren't his fault, but he has got to make better decisions. We've got to shore up our O-line protection. I hate to say this but we may need to run it more, especially if that is what the Defense is giving us, or throw more play over the top, even if they go incomplete for a few series, especially against WVU! I think that will help loosen up the defense that is looking for the screen, then look for the screen later. Make the adjustments on the fly Coach Brown. No time to wait on the big plays its all up hill from here and were need a couple of wins over the next four weeks. Go Tech beat WVU!

I may be wrong, but it sure seemed to me that we got away from our running game once OU went up 24-13. I thought we ran the ball well up to that point. When we started to depend solely on the pass, then that fed right into OU's game plan. They practiced against the screen pass for 2 straight weeks. We should have been prepared for that, since Mike Stoops ALWAYS plays tough against this type of Tech offense. However, I don't think they were ready to stop our running game. And it's sad we did get away from that. We didn't run Jakeem Grant on an end-around or pound Kenny Williams near enough. And it's really hard to stop Eric Stephens over and over on that Wild Raider formation. Maybe we'll go back to what has been working this year and not stumble into last year's mistakes again. Doege has to recognize blitzes and get rid of the ball. It's a shame he gets clammed up in key games. I sure had hoped he had gotten over that. Perhaps this last game will motivate him. He had open guys all over the place, which is probably the saddest thing. And if he thinks he has his team's support, he may need to do some mending with Williams, Amaro, Bell and Moore...they didn't act too enthused with lots of his passes.